
aass_ I- 2.^j4_ 

Book TS5EA 



Mepent ! Eepmt ! or likeivise Perish / 



THE SPIRIT 

OF 

AN EVENING LECTURE, 

FEBRUARY 16, 1812; 

ON THE 

LATE CdLAMITY AT RICHMOJV*JD, VIRGUSTM^ 

MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED 

TO a— «^' 

THE UNIVERSALIST CHURCH, 

PHTI.AnET.PHIAy 
AT WHOSE REQUEST IT IS PUBLISHED, 

BY 
THEIR MIJVISTERIJ^G SERVAJVT, 

GEORGE RICHARDS, 

HO. 130, SOTTTH FIFTH STKIET. 



PHILADELPHIA . 

JPBIjrTED BY LFDlJi R. BAILEYt 

^0. 10, J\*orth-Mkij, 

1812. 



Fz s H- 



, /T5 



:\^s6: 



THE SPIRIT 



0£ 



An Evening Lecture^ 4;c- 



THE members of this church, have requested their 
ministering servant, to deliver an appropriate lecture, 
on the late calamity, at Richmond ,• a calamity, which 
has overwhelmed the capital of Virginia in lamenta- 
tion, in mourning, and woe ; and clothed almost every 
family, in sackcloth, in ashes, and the dust of death. 
National sensibility roused at the cry of distress. Pri- 
vate sympathy woke at the shriek of sorrow. America 
rose up to comfort them that mourn. Assembled states 
breathed the language of pity. Age wafted his tremu- 
lous sigh to the grave, where mothers, daughters, 
fathers, sons repose. Youth impeai'led the tear upon 
the tomb, where relatives and friends, the favored 
bridegroom, and the beauteous bride, are hushed to 
everlasting rest. Yes ! all the charities of life have 
wept the much loved dead ! And even religion's sainted 
form, has mingled her balsams and her balms : and 
poured the Avine and oil on every bleeding wound. The 
cup of consolation is full; it overflows j the feeling 
heart can add no more. Then, be it yours and nsine, 
my brethren and my friends, to improve this awful 
dispensation of divine providence, in such profitable 



4r 

mode, as best becometh rational, accountable, and im- 
mortal beings : and this we shall humbly attempt, in 
a deep sense of manifold personal imperfections, by 
entreating the serious, the solemn attention of this 
respectable, respected, and crowded audience, to the 
^* true sayings of the faithful and the true," when " he 
opened his mouth in wisdom," and the " law of kind- 
ness" pronounced these ever memorable words, 

And Jesus answering , said unto thenif suppose ye, that 
ilichr. Galileans, were sinners above all the GalileanSf 
because they suffered such things^ I tell you, nay: 
But, except ye repentf ye shall all likewise perish. 

Luke xiii. 3, 3. 

** A thousand may fall on the right; and ten thousand 
drop on the left," and man neither " fears the terror 
by night ; nor heeds the arrow which flies by day," 
provided " the pestilence that walketh in darkness," or, 
♦' the destruction which wastelh at noon," is removed 
far from his dwelling, and cometh not nigh unto him : 
for although, no less than three thousand, four hundred 
and ninety-seven of the human race are bidding adieu 
to time, as every bom* rolls on : Although, no less than 
four score, one thousand, seven hundred and sixty 
fellow travellers are posting for eternity, from day to 
day ; yet the balance of the numerous whole, are firmly 
persuaded, that " the number of their months is not 
determined" for death ; and while thirty millions have 
come forth, as one annual flower ; and are cut down 
from year to year, by the two-edged scythe of " the 
rider on the pale horse ;" still, each individual flatters 
himself, " that the overflowing scourge of the King of 
Terrors shall pass by." It is true, that ii] this mo- 
mentary period, which comprehends no more than three 
hundred and sixty-five rapidly fleeting days, that the 
sons and daughters of men, are frcijuently summoned 
^' to apply thejr hearts unto wisdom ;" and continually 



have reason to say, in the language of the royal 
psalmist, " Lord ! make me to know mine end ; and 
the measure of my days ; that I may know how frail 
I am ! for thou hast made my days as an hand's 
breadth ,• and mine age is as nothing before thee :" But 
the voice of *•' the father of the faithful and the friend 
of God," is heard with listless indifference, by careless, 
inattentive mortals, although he weeps in the presence 
of the living, and before the dead, and feelingly exclaims, 
<« I am a stranger among you ; give me the possession 
of a burying place, that I may bury my wife, out of 
my sight :" while " the cares of the world," the plea- 
sures of sense, " the pride of life," and ten thousand 
other trifling vanities, silence the anguished tones of 
the mourner from the land of Tekoa, who mournfully 
cries, " help, O my Lord, the King : for I am indeed a 
widow J and mine husband is dead !" And even the 
melting accents of the wanderer from the brooks of 
Arnon, produce no lasting impressions of a serious 
nature, on the sons of dissipation, and the daughters of 
frivolity, as she breathes her varied woes to all the 
Avinds of heaven, in agonistic sounds, like these, ** Call 
me no more Naomi, that is, joy : but call me Mara, that 
is, bitterness ; I went out into life full ; leaning on the 
arm of an affectionate partner, and supported by two 
dutiful children^ I am returning home empty to the 
grave ; bereaved, bereft of them all ; the Lord hatlj 
testified against me ; and the Almighty hath afflicted 
me." 

And is this a true portrait of thoughtless man ? does 
he thus trifle on the borders of the grave ? does he thus 
sport on the barriers of eternity? Is he unmoved at 
"the loosing of the silver cord?" — at "the dashing 
of the golden bowl ?" Does " he go with the mourners 
round the streets, when man goeth to his long home," 
and strangely forget that " the sun, the moon, and the 



stars shall be darlvcned," by death, unto him : " that 
the dust sliall return to the earth, as it was : and the 
spirit return unto God who gave it ?" Yes ! verily he 
doth. And is there nothing which can rouse him from 
this apathy of soul ? Is there nothing that can possibly 
awaken from the letliargy of death-like sleep ? Yes .' 
verily there is. And these, the awakening energies of 
a God, " who neither slumbers, nor sleeps," are usually 
confided to some tremendous providence ; some awful 
dispensation ; some overwhelming judgment, which 
rapidly descends, in the strength of the whirlwind of 
Almighty power, resistless, as the thunderbolts of 
heaven ; and fatal, as the lightning of the clouds: And 
yet amazing to think ; almost incredible to believe, the 
awakening sinner starts from his slumbers induced by 
past security J proudly sits down in the judgment seat, 
of " the judge of all the earth;" and boldly determines, 
that those who have thus perished as *' in a moment, 
as in the twinkling of an eye ;" are the guiltiest of the 
guilty ; the vilest of the vile ; the greatest of all fellow 
sinners : And instead of listening to the trump of God, 
which sounds, ** repent, repent; or perish thou, and 
die," he impeaches even brethren and friends at the 
dread tribunal of" the judge of quick and dead ;" and 
dooms the present sufterer to unending, and eternal 
woes : forgetful of this solemn truth ; that he himself, 
is destined " to stand at the judgment seat of Jesus 
Christ," the judge of angels and of men; and that, when 
»' he is weighed in an even balance," with those, who 
liave thus vanished from beneath these heavens, it is 
possible, that each one of them, may be absolved from 
the pains and penalties of " the second death ;" and 
himself delivered over, unto " indignation and wrath; 
tribulation and anguish," by an omniscient and impar- 
tial Being ; " who searcheth the hearts ; who trieth the 



reirts f^ and " rendereth a recompense to every man, 
according as liis works shall be." 

To re[3ress a spirit of the bold, presumptuous kind, 
that we have thus glanced at ^ to humble thoughtless 
sinners, as in dust ', and lead them " to repentance, not 
to be repented of;" it pleased the final judge of man, 
to adopt the solemn, the impressive language of the 
texii ** saying unto all, as he said unto one," or more, 
" suppose ye, that these Galileans, whose blood Pilate 
mingled with the blood of their sacrifices, were sinners 
above all the Galileans? I tell you, nay; they were not: 
and except ye repent ; ye shall all likewise perish." 
The very nature of every expression made use of by- 
" the Ijord of the dead, and the living," furnishes incon- 
testible proof, that those individuals who told liim of 
this awful providence, had made up determinate, though 
fallacious judgment respecting these unfortunate suf- 
ferers ; and because *' they suffered such things," as a 
sudden and violent death, they rashly pronounced them 
the greatest of all possible sinners. Suppose ye so, 
saith Jesus ? Is this your judgment ? Then omniscience 
replies, that you are totally mistaken : the lip of eternal 
truth repels the charge against the dead. I tell you, 
nay : It is not true. And if you have formed the samp 
opinion concerning " the eighteen, on whom the tower 
of rfiloam fell ?" If ye think that " these were sinners 
above all men in Jerusalem,^* I tell you once more, that 
you are equally wrong, in the last, as erroneous in the 
first conclusion ; and twice, I repeat the same truth, in 
the very same words, to render it more striking and 
impressive ; to seal it as yea and amen ; " that unless 
ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish :" that is, some 
sudden providence, as swift in its approach ; as fatal in 
its effects, shall pursue, overtake, overwhelm, every 
unrepenting individual, who by " hardness of heart" 
and « impenitence of soul, treagnreth up nnto himself 



8 

wrath, against the day of wrath, and righteous revela- 
lion of the judgment of Godj who will render to 
every man, according to his deeds ;" rendering « to 
them who by patient continuance in well doing, seek for 
glory, and honor, and immortality, eternal life ;" and 
rendering ** to those, who obey unrighteousness, indig- 
nation and wrath; tribulation and anguish j" for " there 
is glory, honor, and peace to every man that worketh 
good ; to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile :" And 
''he vfho doeth wrong, shall receive for the wrong 
which he hath done, and with God, there is no respect 
of persons," in the ptmishment of vice, or the reward 
of virtue. 

Thus forbidden of Christ Jesus himself, to enter his 
presence on this evening, with a thought in any of our 
hearts, that the inhabitants of Richmond, " were sin- 
ners above all" the inhabitants of the United States, 
much less, that **they were sinners above all" the 
inhabitants of this metropolis: forbidden to judge 
those with eternal judgment who <« have suffered such 
things," as genius, virtue, beauty, suffered in the tor- 
ture of devouring flames ; most bitter things indeed ! of 
which it may be said, that whosoever heareth, his ears 
shall tingle ; his eyes grow dim ; his heart feel faint ; his 
face turn pale ; and his trembling limbs smite together 
in horrent amaze. And commanded of the Redeemer 
in person, to attempt no other improvement of this 
tremendous dispensation of a Holy God; a dispensation 
which contemns the powers of eloquence; mocks at " the 
pen of the readiest writer," and defies the heaven-born 
bard's impassioned strains, excepting, that moral and 
spiritual improvement, which leads to individual, and 
terminates in national repentance: and taught from 
« the volume of this book," as written by the pencil of 
eternal truth, to connect with this solemn improvement 
of our awful and impressive theme, the sure and certain 



destruction of every impenitent individual, ^vho re* 
pcntetli not ; and, therefore, is inevitably destined, in 
case of final impenitence, to perish in like manner, as 
those, ^vlio have already perished, by some instantane- 
ous stroke of divine providence, your ministering ser- 
vant, therefore, by permission from heaven, and patient 
indulgence on earth, proposes to devote undivided 
attention, to these most interesting and momentous 
subjects ; as the only points of vision, in Nvhich Christ 
Jesus our Lord, hath permitted us, the spared monu- 
ments of his sparing mercies, to gaze with solemn 
reverence, on the solemn scene ; and " to glorify his 
lioly and his reverend name," as in the midst of a burn- 
ing, fiery furnace, heated with seven fold heat ; and 
kindled into flames of more than common Avratli. 

The doctrine of repentance, my brethren and my 
friends, is commonly divided into legal and evangelical. 
The first of these two species, is defined to be, a fear 
of those punishments Avhich are denounced against sin; 
and yet, this fear unaccompanied by a hatred of sin. 
The second, or evangelical repentance, is said, to 
include a hatred of sin ,* and a love of holiness,* not from 
any dread of threatened judgments; but from love 
towards God; and a hope of pardon through the merits 
of Christ. Without disputing the correctness of this 
last definition; the first, is pronounced inadmissible, on 
scriptural principles: for divine revelation acknow- 
ledges nothing as repentance, eitlier under the law, or 
beneath the gospel, which is imattended by fruits meet 
for repentance ; and in as much, as repentance is a 
doctrine, addressed to the sinner, in his sinful charac- 
ter, it is certain, that if he doth not reform his life, 
and amend his doings, that he remains an impenitenl 
sinner ; and penitence must be improperly applied, to 
an unrepenting individual, who hath not forsaken his 
former sins; nor practised their opposite virtues 5 

B 



10 

althotigh he may iiave *' humbled himself" for a 
moment, as Ah ah did ; or trembled like Belshazzar, at 
the dread hand Avriling on the wall. 

Repentanee, my brethren and my friends, in its 
purest, most perfect form, is presented to our vieAV, in 
*' the repentance of the Ninevites, who repented at the 
preaching of Jonah ;" and as Jesus himself hath ac- 
knowledged that " the men of Nineveh did repent,'* 
when preaching " to those who repented not ;" it is 
therefore impossible to err, in determining what 
repentance is, according to the pi-ophetical prin- 
ciples laid down in the prophecies of the prophet Jonah j 
and the evangelical conclusions of Christ Jesus, in the 
gospels of Matthew and Luke : And the piophet and 
the prophet's God, authorise your ministering servant, 
to say, that the repentance of the king of Nineveh, did 
not consist in his humiliation from a throne of glory ; 
nor in the exchange of imperial robes for *' a garment 
of sackcloth, or a scat in ashes." Neither m as the re- 
pentance of his nobles, nor that of the people, composed 
of abstinence from food, or drink : nor even of those 
strong cries, wherewitii " they cried mightily unto 
God, in humble hope, tliat " he might turn away from 
his fierce anger ; and repent of the evil," which a 
prophet had bounded within narrow limits : for this 
was the cry of Jonah ; " yet forty days, and Nineveh 
sliall be overtlu'own." But " man and beast might 
have been covered with sackcloth ;" the king, the 
nobles sat in dust ; and every individual tasted nothing 
for a week; and yet the whole have remained impenitent. 
This impious farce, this mockery of God, has been acted 
and reacted by nations, by churches, and by high profes- 
sors ; and the voice of eternal truth has affirmed, that 
*< these fasted to smite with the list of wickedness;" and 
those " made long prayers to devour widows' houses.'* 
What then was it, my brethren and my friends, which 
formed the essentials of repentance in the king, the 



11 

nobles and the inhabitants of Nineveh ? Jxt the > olumo 
of this book reply, and tlie record of divine inspiration 
is, *' that God saw their works, that they tnrned from 
their evil ways ; and God repented of the evil that he 
said, lie would do unto them, and he did it not;" and 
so perfectly sensible was the king of Nineveh, that 
amendment of life, and the practice of piety and virtue, 
were the real constituents of repentance, that he con- 
cluded his royal mandate for a day of fasting and 
prayer, in these most appropriate words, " let every 
individual turn from the evil of his ways; and all from 
the violence which is in tlieir hands :" or in other words, 
as expressed by the prophet Isaiah, " let them cease to 
do evil, and learn to do Avell : let them seek judgment ; 
relieve the oppressed ; plead for the fatherless, and 
judge the cause of the widow." for " repentance not to 
be repented of" includes the " loosing of the bands of 
wickedness;" the ** undoing of the heavy burdens;'* 
the letting the oppressed go free ;" the " breaking in 
pieces of every slavish yoke :" It is, " to deal our bread 
to the hungry ;" to '• bring the cast out poor" to tlie 
mansion of affluence ; to <* cover tlie naked" with the 
clothing of wealth : and not '< to hide ourselves" as 
misers, from " the one flesh of man :" It is, " to exe- 
cute true judgment and shew mercy and compassion ;'* 
forbearing ** to oppress the widow, the stranger, the 
fatherless and the poor," and abstaining from ** a 
thought of evil in the heart" against any of the human 
race : It is, " to do justly ; to lov€ mercy ; and to walk 
humbly with thy God." These general princijjles, my 
l>rethren and my friends, are recognized as truth, by 
all the prophets ; confirmed l>y the herald of the Lord 
of hosts; and more than confirmed by the Lord of hosts 
himself, in all that he liath taught and commanded 
concerning rci>entance. Whether " he upbraided tlu)SQ 
cities in which most of his mightiest works were donej 



13 

because thcj repented not ;" or Mhetlier he assured an 
impenitent raee of infidels, " that the men of Nineveh 
sliould rise in judgment, Avith that generation, and con- 
demn it, because they repented at the preaching of 
Jonah, and beliokl a greater than Jonah was tliere ;" 
and sufter me to add, tlmt tlie witnessing spirit of all 
ihc apostles and evangelists, is in perfect unison, with 
the testimony of their Lord, -whether " they vent forth 
throughout the cities of Israel ; and every where 
preached that men sliould repent j" or whether, they 
*< preached repentance and remission of sins unto all 
nations, beginning at Jerusalem; and from thence 
proceeding unto the end of the earth :" for neither 
prophet nor evangelist ever preached the doctrine of 
repentance, to a whole nation, or a single individual, 
without reminding both of this one truth, ** that fruits 
meet for repentance," must prove the sincerity thereof; 
that works of piety and love must substantiate its 
genuine realities. This most assuredly was the preach- 
ing of the great baptizer at the floods of Joidan, Avho 
opened his commission with tlie cry of" repent, repent 
ye ;" and added thereto the divine command, " bring 
|brth fruits meet for repentance ;" and that these fruits 
were composed of abstinence from all former sins ; and 
the practice of their opposite virtues, we are specially 
tauglit from his address, to "the publicans, soldiers, and 
people," who severally demanded of him, *• master, what 
shall we do ?" or in other Avoids, wJiat is that repent- 
ance, to w hieh we arc exhorted, nay commanded, under 
penalties '»' of the w ratli to come." This also was the 
;spiiit of the pentecostal sermon, as preached by the 
first I)orn of apostles : ibr fruits meet for repentance, 
were certainly included, in the many other imrecordcd 
words of exhortation, saying, ** save yourselves from 
this untoward generation ;" and Avorks worthy of 
repentance ^vere most assuredly called for, Avhen Peter 



13 

said, " repent ye, therefore, and be convicted, thai 
your sins may be blotted out, wlien the times of refresh- 
ing shall come from the presence of the Lord :" and 
Paul, tlie chiefest of apostles, kept the same truths in 
view, when he shewed, first to them at Danr.iscus, next 
at Jerusalem, and then to the Gentiles, that tliey should 
<* repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repent- 
ance ;'' and the like truths were embosomed in his 
address to the Athenians, when he assured them, ** that 
the times of ignorance" were passed oif, " at which 
God formerly winked;*' and that " now Godcommand- 
cth all men, every where, to repent ; because he hath 
appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in 
righteousness, by that man, whom he hath ordained ;'* 
and to Avhom " all judgment is committed." Or to 
sum all that can be said, in as few words, as possible, 
repentance leads to the love of God ; and terminates in 
the love of man, according to the spirit of " the two 
great commandments," on Avhich, " the law and the 
prophets depend :" and tlie incorporation of these two 
commandments into the gospel itself; and that by the 
authority of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, hath 
made the " first and second commandment" the rule 
of obligation, and the standard of duty ; and the per- 
fection of both in the love of God, and the love of man, 
is the life and spirit of the new covenant of grace, 
mercy, and peace, from God our father, in Jesus 
Clu'ist our liOrd. 

It remaiucth to enquire from " the lively oracles of 
the living God," if tlie impenitent have nothing to fear? 
If no upbraidings await on slighted calls? If "the 
sword witliout, and the terror within" may not pursue? 
If "the foot of impenitence sliall not slide" in due 
time? the calamity of unrepenting individuals make 
haste ; and " the poison of the arrows of the Alaiighty, 
diink up" tjieir agonized spirits, at the last ? 



14 

To all these questions, the Lord Jesus CJirist replies 
in the language of ihe text, " except ye repent, ye shall 
all likewise perish^*' and the same solemn words are 
twice repeated, to render them more strikingly impres- 
sive; and, if possible, to engrave one awful truth in 
deeper lines, upon the marble tablet of the human 
heart. The like manner of perishing, which Jesus has 
equally connected Avith tMO different examples of sudden 
and violent death, has no reference, as we humbly ap- 
prehend, to the very same mode of destruction in all 
eases : But is a general form of expression, inclusive of 
every sudden, tremendous, overwhelming judgment, 
that has ever passed over the earth; and swept its guilty 
inhabitants away, as with the besom of rapid, instanta- 
neous destruction: for tl^e blood which Pilate hath shed, 
can be shed no more ; the tower that has fallen, falls 
not again : the sword of the Roman is pillowed beneath 
Lis head. The fragments of the capitol of Siloam are 
brn ied in dust : And therefore, the plain, the obvious 
meaning of the Redeemer, must be, that sinful indivi- 
duals, " except they repent" of their impenitence, may 
rest assured of perishing by some terrible calamity, 
the swiftness, the fatality of which, shall strikingly 
resemble the sudden death of those Galileans, who 
w^ere slain by command of Pilate ; and the momentary 
crush of the Jcavs, on whom the tower of Siloam fell : 
And accepting the word of the Lord Jesus, in this 
extensively applicable sense ; they lead ohm ard to " the 
valley of Jehosaphat," Avherc judgments sit enthroned 
in various forms ; and " the sword, the famine and the 
pcslilence," with ten thousand other plagues, " arc 
prepared for an hour, a day, a month, or a year, to slay 
the third part of men ;" or clothed upon with more 
ample commission, " they gather the vine of the earth, 
and cast it into the w inc press of the wrath of Almighty 
God :'- lift up the hand to heaven's high throne; pro 



15 

nouncc that time shall be no more ; and rage amid the 
wreck of matter, and the crush of m orlds. 

Among these heralds of the last concluding scene ; 
these messengers of God, which go heibre the day, when 
" all these elements shall melt Avith fervent heat," fire, 
is no more, tlian a simple agent, and generally speaking, 
however terrible in effect, it is «* lighter than the dust 
of the balance," when compared with many other 
ministers of destruction, which are equally rapid in ap- 
proach, and infinitely more destructive, in multiplied 
energies of awful execution. Such is the earthquake 
of Almighty power, which heaves a city from its 
trembling base ; and whelms the living, yet alive, in 
instantaneous death : And such is pestilence and plague, 
who wave the flaming sword around a dying world ; and 
breathless millions taint the putrid air. To these, we may 
add, wide wasting Avar, whose garments are rolled in 
blood; volcanic eruption, whose life, is living flames; sud- 
den inundation; tempests, whirlwinds, storms; the Hcree 
tornado; and the Scyroc's blasts All these, and many 
more, are swifter on the wing than burning fiery flames; 
and SAveep their myriads to one common grave ; while 
fire has spared the life of man : for although Constan- 
tinople numbers no less than one hundred and iii'iy 
thousand dwellings, which at difterent periods have 
been reduced to ashes : although Moscow, Archangel, 
Petersburgh, Copenhagen, London, Paris, and many 
Other cities in Europe have bowed to devouring flames : 
although Boston, Newburyport, Portsmouth, NeA>- 
York, Norfolk. Charleston, and Philadelphia have re- 
peatedly experienced great destructions, yet in most oi' 
these instances, however immense the loss of property: 
however deep the sorrows of the houseless cliild of 
want, no fond mother has been called upon, like Rachel ; 
« to Aveep for her children, refusing all comfort, be- 
.rause they Avere not." No aftcctionatc father has takf-a 



16 

lip the language of Davitl, and cried, <• my son, my son, 
would God, that I had died for thee, O my son, my 
son !" No fatherless, nor orphan child has exclaimed, 
*< we are orphans and fatherless ; our mothers are Avi- 
dows ;" and none of the general charities of human life, 
have been impelled to adopt the words of the royal 
writer, thus mournfully saying, " lover and friend hast 
thou put far from mej and mine acquaintance are 
shrouded in darkness." *' Alas ! alas ! — Woe, worth 
the day !" The every lire enkindled in this western 
world, is light as vanity itself, when weighed against 
that mightier weight of living woe, which sinks Vir- 
ginia in the dust; and whelms her capital in ever 
present death. Philanthropy forbids to touch this me- 
lancholy chord : it vibrates agony, distraction, horror 
and despair. Humanity commands, turn silently awayj 
and like " the friends of Job" forbear to speak a Avord; 
for eloquence itself, can only heighten grief like this. 
And yet, if privileged, my suffering, sorrowing friends, 
to sit with you in solemn silence on the ground ; if 
privileged to watch the precious reliqucs of the much 
loved dead j and privileged at last, to speak, as spake 
•* the friends of Job," your servant and your friend 
would ask ; and ask of you, his sorroAving, suffering 
friends, on whom, the tempest and the storm of death 
have beat w ith awful power ; on whom, the Avhirlw ind 
and the flood of sorrow still descend with mightiest 
force ; and who can count the myriads of the human 
race, that first, or last, have wept for millions of the 
kindred dead, cut doAvn on battle's gory plains, between 
the rising and the setting sun ? as proud ambition diove 
his crimsoning car across the iron fields of war ; or self 
defence impelled the patriot baud, to hazard life again** 
some savage foe ; Avhosc " arroM s, are the arrows of 
the mighty," and whose " quiver, is an open sepulchre r'* 
Yes! even thy streams, Wabash! return this mournful, 



17 

melancholy sound, tlie husband, father, brother, son 
returns no more: The widows, mothers, sisters of the 
greatly brave, are seated low in dust : Their hu&bahds 
breathed no fond farewel : the mother caught no filial* 
parting sigh : The sister dropt no tear upon a brother*s 
clay cold cheek: These perished far from home: No 
mourner followed to the distant grave ; they sleep the 
sleep of death in foreign lands ; and glory's lamp burns 
dim for want of beauty's oil. Once more, and who 
can number the innumerable multitudes, that have 
perished " as in a moment, as in the twinkling of an 
eye," by those tremendous earthquakes, which pre- 
vailed, almost universally, from the year 17, to the year 
1500 : without taking into account the overAvhehr.ing 
of numerous cities in Italy, from the sixteenth to the 
eighteenth century, where volcanic eruption destroyed 
flourishing towns, populous villages and peopled ham- 
lets, in less than an hour ; and earthquake treading 
close on the footsteps of the glowing lava, completed 
that work of desolation Avhich Vesuvius and ^tna be- 
gan. Finally, and to close these two queries, by a 
third, has not the wide wasting pestilence, been equally 
terrible in its destinictive effects ; as war on the right 
hand, or earthquakes on the left ? Yes ! verily, it hath : 
for at different epochs of time, and in various quarters 
of the globe, this destroying angel, w ho breathed along 
the ranks of the dying army of the impious Sennache- 
rib, and left « one hundred, four score and five thou- 
sand" of his chosen warriors, breatliless on the tainted 
field, has consigned ten thousand, tliree thousand, eigh- 
teen hundred, to tlie valley of the shadow, from day 
to day, for many a circling month : And at Fez, near 
Morocco, no less than two hundred and forty seven 
thousand formed the muster roll of death, in June, 
1799 ^ which is more than eight thousand per day, and 

C 



18 

ulmost sixty two thousand, in the narrow compass of a 
single week ! 

Fellow citizens of " no mean city!'* Inliahitants of the 
capital of Virginia ! The ftw imperfect hints, which 
have been submitted to your attentions, we presume not 
to offer as consolation to generous, feeling, affected, af- 
flicted hearts. Humanity derives no comfort from the 
tempest or the storm, which has sunk a brother in tho 
depths of the deep. Philanthropy turns pale at the mad- 
dening billow and the raging flood, Avhich have dashed 
a fellow mariner against the rocks of perdition. Nei- 
ther war, clothed in garments of blood ; earthquake 
invested with onmipotent energies; nor pestilence array- 
ed in living death, can afford any pleasure to the agoni- 
zed spir'it, which is ready to sink beneath " a far more 
exceeding and almost eternal weight" of its own pecu- 
liar sorrows* This lias<y sketch of the three fold de- 
stroyers of the hope of man, who " esteem our iron as 
straw, and our brass as rotten wood," was introduced 
for another, and we trust, for a nobler pui'pose, than 
the vain attempt of administering comfort, where feel- 
ing, sensibility, affection, love, render consolation inad- 
missible. No other liand can alleviate the torments in- 
flicted by the wounds of the twenty sixth of December, 
excepting that God, who winged the burning arrows 
from his throne ; and fledged the flery shafts too deep 
in the soul, to admit of human extraction. It is he, and 
he alone, without whose note, " not even a sparrow 
falls," who can mingle the balsams and the balms of 
mercy, in the bowl of ** wormwood and of gall :" and 
Anally sweeten this most bitter of bitter cups, to your 
embittered taste. May divine benignity " Avipe away the 
tear" from every fathcir's streaming eye ; steal the sad 
mother from her pensive self, and all her agonistic 
woes ; and according to the days, in which brethren 
and sisters have seen affliction, make you glad, ** with 



19 

exceeding great joy;" with "joy that is unspeakable, 
and full of celestial glory." 

The first, the last object of the speaker, in all that 
he hath said, has been to arouze the inhabitants of the 
United States, and awaken individuals, to a solemn 
sense of this momentous truth, that " except we repent, 
we shall all likcAvise perish :" and in as much, as war, 
earthquake, and pestilence, are three of the most com- 
moil judgments spoken of in divine revelation, it was 
deemed expedient to glance at each one of them, in rapid- 
ly passing succession; and at the same moment, your mi- 
nistering servant indulged the pleasing hope, of breath- 
ing transient peace on more than common griefs, by 
pointing from the fatal spot, to more tremendous scenrs. 

It remaineth to ask, if all these signs and tokens of 
approaching national judgment; and individual cala- 
mity, are not round about us ? And whether a fatal le- 
thargy, a death-like sleep, has not seized on the slum- 
bering millions of this new found world, so that few, 
Tcry few indeed, either ** regard the work of the Lord," 
or ** consider the operation of his hands ;" " hear the 
sound of the trumpet," or listen to its tones, " waxing 
louder, and louder ;" " fear the rod," or tremble be- 
fore him, " who hath appointed it." For is it not cer- 
tain, my brethren and my friends, ** that the Lord God 
hath called to contend by fire ;" and that " it hath eaten 
up a part of the great deep" of manufacturing wealth ? 
Has not war unfurled her red standard in the person of 
savage tribes ? And have not " our young men been 
slain," by the battle axe of <' the terrible and dread- 
ful," wlio are " swifter than the leopard," and " fiercer 
than the evening wolf?" Have not repeated, and re- 
repeated shocks of the earth, been heard from one ex- 
treme of this wide extended continent, even to the other? 
and doth not this sound of the voice of the Almighty, 
proclaim, as with " the trump of the archangel," « yet 



20 

once more, I shake not the earth only ; but the heavens 
also." And can we forget the ravages of that pestilen- 
tial fever, which at different periods laid waste many 
families, in most of our capital cities : and fell with an 
accumulated weight of energetic vengeance on this de- 
voted metropolis ? of which it might be said, in the lan- 
guage of holy writ : *' how doth the city sit solitary 
that was full of people ! how is she become as a widow, 
that was great among the nations, and princess among 
the provinces !" for during these memorable periods of 
** visitation in wrath," " the voice of the harper and mu- 
sician was heard no more ;" <* the light of a candle 
scarcely shone ;" and the song of " the bridegroom and 
the bride," were hushed in the silence of death. " Wars 
and rumours of wars, famine, earthquake and pesti- 
lence, saith Jesus himself, are the beginning of sor- 
rows." Three of these tokens of the divine displeasure 
have already been among us ; a part of them are yet 
round about us ; and famine is the only remaining sign, 
which is wanting to complete the dreadful group : this 
last, not least of plagues, maybe our portion, before 
another harvest is " gathered into our garners :" It is 
possible, in (he words of an inspired prophet, "that the 
tongue of the sucking child may cleave to the roof of 
its mouth for thirst :" *< that young chihlren may ask 
bread, and no man break it unto them ;"— It is possi- 
ble, " that infants of a span long may swoon as the 
wounded in the streets of the city ;" and " pour out 
tlieir souls on their mothers' bosoms," as <* they faint 
for corn and wine." Then, O my country, be thou warn- 
ed ! " Be thou instructed by these things !" *^ Lay them 
to heart j" and, " consider thy latter end." Neither let 
*' the rejoiting and the careless city," say, that « I sit 
as a queen, and shall see no sorrow :" But " I shall not 
sit as a widow, or know the loss of children ;" for " thy 
plagues," as " the plagues of Babylon," may « come ip 



one day :" " The loss of children, and widowhood,'* 
may he thine in a moment. " Death, mourning, and 
famine" came to her at an instant : " strong was the 
Lord God, who judged the most proud j" « In one hour, 
the judgment of that great city, came;" and "Bahy- 
Ion, the glory of kingdoms : the heauty of Chaldaie 
excetlenee, was, as when God overthrew Sodom and 
Gomorrha :" it " sunk as a millstone" in the depths : 
and from the deep, it rose no more. Such also was the 
fate of Nineveh ; " whose rampart was the sea ; and 
whose wall was the ocean." "Myriads and millions 
were her strength ;" " they recounted their worthies :" 
the " shield of the mighty was made red :" the " vali- 
ant were in scarlet :" they " watched the way :" they 
" kept the munition :" the " defence of Nineveh was 
prepared :" the " gates of the river were opened :" the 
<* palace was dissolved :" and Nineveh became a desola- 
tion ; a waste ; a wilderness ; " her young children 
were dashed in pieces at the top of all the streets :" the 
destroyer of nations " cast lots for her honourable 
men :" " her nobles were bound in fetters of iron :" her 
princes led captive in chains of brass. 

Representatives of more than seven millions of peo- 
ple ! You have wept with them that wept. A nation 
has felt for the living : a nation has mourned the dead : 
America, in you, has assumed " the garment of heavi- 
ness :" the United States have breathed the language 
of condolence. But suffer me to ask, with reverential 
respect, when this moment of sympathy was past ; a 
moment evanescent as " the morning cloud ;" and tran- 
sient as " the early dew," were there no sins found 
among yourselves, which might have " reclothed you 
in sackloth ;" « seated you in ashes;" and led each one, 
** to cry mightily unto God," saying, " spare thy peo- 
ple, O Lord!" and " pardon the iniquities of thy ser- 
vants." That tho^e who « suffered such things," as 



22 

the living and the dead suffered at Richmond, " were 
not sinners above all," men at Washington, is the voice 
of eternal truth ,• and the voice vv'hich spake these words 
hath affirmed, and twice repeated the solemn, the im- 
pressive declaration, *' that except ye repent, ye shall 
all likewise peris li." The tower of Siloani, the fall 
of that tower, and the crush of those who sunk beneath 
its weight, may possibly have been selected, as emblems 
of the pinnacle on which you stand ; of the capitol in 
which you convene,* and of the overwhelming of those 
who assemble within its spacious walls. " A sound of 
war has been heard in the land ;" But are you prepared 
to meet the tempest and the storm of battle ; « the 
thunder of the captains," and " the shouting of armies?" 
the <* neighing of the war steeds ;" and the " pransings 
of the mighty ones?" Is your confidence placed in ** an 
arm of flesh ?" Does it repose on the means of defence, 
which are prepared, and preparing ? Are your hopes 
centered in regular armies, disciplined militia, or patri- 
otic volunteers ? Know then, this most humiliating 
truth, that although the imperial eagle may ** build 
her nest on the top of a rock ;" and that rock *' may 
be fortified to the height of the heavens," yet God is 
able " to bring down from thence :" and " the terrible 
and dreadful, whose judgment and dignity proceed from 
themselves," may « deride every strong hold : heap dust, 
and take it ; and " gather captivity like the sand" of 
of the sea. Instead, therefore, of " numbering the 
people," as David did of old, in "the pride of his 
heart," and counting the thousands, tens of thousands, 
and millions, who unsheathe the sword at your com- 
mand, rather humble yourselves at the footstool of the 
throne of Jehovah ; and lead the fulness of the United 
States, to seek the *< God of Gods ; the " Lord of 
liords ; the King of kings, who can turn " the day of 
prosperity" into the « night of adversity ;" or change 



23 

<* the shadow of death," into " the morning" of glory ; 
and thus glorifying " that God, in whose hand is your 
breath, and whose are all your ways :" " breaking off 
your sins by righteousness, and your iniquities by shew- 
ing mercy to the poor:" " causing judgment to run down 
as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream,'" you 
may then indulge a humble hope, of " the lengthening 
of national tranquility :" and the continuance of indi- 
vidual prosperity. But, if you proudly " refuse him, 
who is speaking from heaven," in the voice of uncom- 
monly, solemn and alarming providences ; if in the 
words of a prophet, ** you are stretching yourselves on 
the couch of ease;" " eating the lambs of the flock and 
the calves of the stall :" ** chaunting to the sound of the 
viol :" inventing instruments of music : " drinking wine 
in full flowing bowls :" and " anointing pride with all 
the perfumes of vanity," tlie ** tower of Siloam" may 
yet fall ; the hand that has raised you to the pinnacle, 
may rend the pillars of the federal temple from their 
base J and the just indignation of an injured and indig- 
nant people, may whelm you in dust, beneath the ruins 
of the ruined eapitol of political glory. Remember, 
therefore, I beseech you, the language of the text : Be 
ye persuaded, that the inhabitants of Richmond," were 
not sinners above all,'* *< because they sufl^ered such 
things ;" and learn from the impressive words of the 
Lord Jesus Christ himself; this awakening, this awful 
truth, that « except ye repent, ye shall all likewise pe- 
rish." 

Legislators of assembled States! " A voice of la- 
mentation, mourning, and woe," has been heard from the 
rising, to the setting sun of America : It was the voice 
of, a " Rachel weeping bitterly for her children:" It was 
•* the voice of, a Jacob mourning for his Joseph :" Ir 
was the voice of, Virginia lamenting her chief magis- 
trate, who perished^ as is supposed, in attempting to 



24 

rescue others from devouring flames : It was the voicfe 
of a wliole city bewailing her most valued, her best be- 
loved citizens, composed of manly virtue, and of female 
grace. The appeal to your feelings was resistless : The 
pulse of public life stood still ; Humanity wept the liv- 
ing and the dead: A full month has borne witness to sym- 
pathetic sorrows. But indulge me to query, if one of 
ihese mournful days, has been allotted to humiliation 
and prayer, at the footstool of the throne of Almighty 
God ? Or have your supplications, intercessions, and 
cries, ascended in unison to him, who ** giveth wisdom 
to the wise, and knowledge unto men of understanding," 
that it may please the majesty of his grace, to inspire 
the president, senators, and representatives of *< so 
great a people," with ** wisdom, prudence, and sound 
discretion 5" with fortitude, magnanimity, and valour 
in the present solemn and eventful crisis; a crisis, 
which, in prophetical language, involves " distress 
of nations," "perplexity" in public councils, and 
« men's hearts failing them" by reason of fear; for here, 
the " lion pants to tear in pieces for his whelps :" and 
there, the tiger stoops, to spring with surer aim ; and 
strike with more determined force. Forget not, there- 
fore, we beseech you, that it is " the most High who ru- 
leth in the kingdom of men," and " giveth it, to whom- 
soever he will:" at times, " exalting the basest of men," 
<^ to hew down the imperial tree" of other realms ; to 
** cut off its wide spreading branches," and " scatter its 
luxuriant fruits abroad." All these things were accom- 
plished on the haughty Chaldean, at " the end of twelve 
months," as he stretched forth his hand, and said, <» is 
not this, the great Babylon, that I have built, by the 
might of my power ; and for the honor of my majesty ?" 
and things like unto these, may yet be accomplished in 
those States, which at present, form the hope, the 
strength, the pride, the bulwark of this Avestcrn world ,* 



25 

and that within the very same compass of rapidly, re- 
volving time. If, therefore, you lead the fulness of 
your constituents, to hend the knee, as in dust, before 
God ; and appoint for their good, a day of general hu- 
miliation, fasting, and prayer, persuade them to believe, 
that the inhabitants of lliehmond, "were not sinners 
above all" the inhabitants of your respective states, 
** because they suffered such things :" and noting every 
toiic of the trump of the Almighty j and *< the voice of 
the son of God," proclaim, as in tlie language of eternal 
truth, " except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish:" 
and add witli energy and pathos, that " yet a very lit- 
tle while," and *< the punishment of the iniquity of the 
daughters" of America, may be *' greater, than the pu- 
iiislunent of the sin of Sodom, who perished in a mo- 
ment from heaven, and no hand upon earth stayed her 
destruction." " Pride, fulness of bread, and abundance 
of idleness, were in Sodom and Gomorrha :" " Ad- 
mah and Zeboiim strengthened not the hands of the 
poor, and the needy ; they walked in haughtiness, and 
committed abominations." Are not some of those sins 
among you ? Are not most of these iniquities in the 
midst of our tents ? Has eternal justice, no claims, 
hi behalf of twelve millions of Africans, who have been 
annually sacrificed, for almost a century past, to the 
demon of commercial avarice ; the spirit of European 
luxury; and the genius of American indolence? Has 
moral retribution, no demands, in favour of the Abori- 
ginals of this country ? Yes ! verily, it hath : And the 
name of the illustrious Piinn, a friend indeed! is the 
only name, against which, there is no debit, in <* the 
book of remembrance." Is there nothing due from the 
harpies of speculation, to the war worn soldier ? Most 
undoubtedly there is : These panted " for the dust on 
the head of poverty;" and left the widow, the father- 
less, and the orphan, « to perish, without any regard- 

D 



26 

iiig/' Arc the groans, the tears, the sighs, the mighty 
t\Tongsof more than one million, one hundred and ninety 
thousand slaves, unregistered in the Yolume of omnis- 
cience? Can a doubled, a trebled population of misery, 
Avhich is the fact in Tennessee, be forgotten before 
God ? No, surely, no ! Shall not I visit for these things ? 
saith the Lord : Shall not my soul be avenged on such a 
nation as this ? The Lord of hosts may visit, as a pro- 
phet hath said, " at an instant, suddenly, and visit Avith 
thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise : with 
tempest, and storm, and the flame of devouring fire.** 
Then, be ye instructed, " lest the soul of Jehovah de- 
part," and " our cities become desolate ;" our *' towns, 
a land not inhabited.'* Thus God hath visited Nine- 
veh, Babylon, and even Jerusalem herself: ** The line of 
confusion and the stones of emptiness are stretched 
around them ; and desolation sits enthroned amid a 
waste of awful ruins. The trump of Heaven pro- 
claims, •« Repent, Repent :'* It sounds aloud, and, " Be 
ye ready also." 

Young men of Virginia! Young men of Philadelphia I 
united as one, in sympathies of sufTeraace, and sorrow, 
we shall not divide betAveen a band of brothers. Far 
be it from your ministering servant to pronounce, that 
those Avho " suffered such things," as your mothers, fa- 
thers, sisters, brethren, did suffer, *' were sinners above 
all" the inhabitants of the United States. Far be it 
from candour to suppose, that even they, Avho suffered 
death, in tortures of consuming flames, " were sinners 
above" thousands in this gay metropolis, whose days 
<< are given to pleasures j" Avhosc nights are devoted to 
theatrical amusements. That <« charity, which think- 
eth no evil f that " charity, which speaketh no evil :" 
that" charity, which hopeth all things," rathei- prompts 
the speaker, to say, in the words of a poet, " P'or us, 
vour brethren suffered j and for us, your sisters died ;" 



;■'■*« 



27 

A riis^lit improvement of the late afflictive dispensation, 
may form a new born, moral star, vvliose " fires shall 
never dim with age," whose fires shall light the youth- 
ful pilgrim on his dangerous way, across the wastes of 
sin, the wilderness of vice. Be comforted, my sorrow- 
ing friends ! It is possible, that ministering spirits, sent 
Ibrth to minister, soothed the last, momentary pangs of 
expiring virtue : that angels breathed the requiem of 
celestial peace around the bitterness of agonistic death; 
as death approached infantile forms, enrobed in living 
flames. Yes ! Virtue gains the bosom of its father, and 
its God, impassive of decay, amid encircling fires : 
And innocence ascends, as rose the angel from the 
rock, upborne on roseate plumes, to mansions of eternal 
bliss. Weep not for them : they rather weep for you : 
lest " pleasure, falsely so called," may spread her fas- 
cinating snares around your future path ; and tempt 
the wanderer's devious step, from Virtue's hallowed 
hill. You bade farewel to vanity and vice, the moment 
that you heard the sad report : the solemn tidings of fu- 
nereal woes. These pious resolutions have been 
strengthened, and confirmed, by a public, devotional 
act, in which you recognised your dependence upon 
God : confessed that ** life is but a vapour, which ap- 
pearcth for a little time, and then vanisheth away :" 
and acknowkdged tlie^ necessity of religion, to sustain, 
support, uphold, in the day of trial, " when the keepers 
of the liouse tremble," and " the strong men bow them- 
selves down." If then, my youthful friends, fashion, or 
folly, should ever entice; if rebel passions ever beat 
aloud to arms, spurn at the first, and check the last, by 
hastening to the tomb, wheie relatives and friends re- 
pose ; stretch all your pinions for the temple of the 
grave; and on the altars of the dead, renew your sa- 
cred vows; repledge your plighted faith; and live 
thenceforth to God, and God alone, << iu righteousness^ 



28 

»nd faith ; in charity and peace :" remenihering this 
truth, " that there is no land of darkness, and no slia- 
dow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide 
themselves :" and evermore saying, how shall I do this, 
or that great wickedness, and sin against God ? for, 
*< whither can ye go from his spirit? or, whither can ye 
flee from his presence ?" The " eyes of the Lord arc 
in every place, beholding the evil and the good ;" ** as 
a flame of fire, they run to and fro throughout the 
whole earth." The darkness and the light are both alike 
to God:" *• the night shineth as the day before him." 
** Are there any that can hide themselves in secret? 
and I shall not see them ? for do not I fill lieaAcn and 
earth ? saith the Lord." " Remember, therefore your 
creator," preserver, redeemer, and saviour, " in the 
days of your youth, before the evil days come, and the 
years draw nigh, in which sinners find no pleasure in 
sin ;" for, " at the last, it biteth like a serpent ; it 
stingeth like an adder." And thus, " removing sorrow 
from the heart ;" and " putting aAvay evil from the 
flesh," may « you pass the time of your sojourning, in 
godly reverence, and in filial fear:" knowing, ♦• that 
God shall bring every work into judgment, >vith every 
secret thing, whether it be good, or evil," And when, 
♦< the winds shall blow," the " rain descend," the 
*« tempest beat," the " flood of death roll on," may your 
foundation rest upon " the rock, from everlasting 
strong ;" and faith firm fixed on God ,• and stedfast hope 
in Jesijs Christ, sustain, support the deathless spirit, 
and immortal soul, as " heaven itself shall pass aAvay 
w ith mighty noise i" and " all these eleinents dissolve 
in fervent heat," 
Daughters of Pennsylvania! A theatre exists in your 
smiles : a theatre expires at your frowns. Forgive the 
speaker for the thought ,• it pains him at the vei-y heart, 
to think, that delicate woman, has shown less sensibili- 



29 

tj, than sterner man. Is it possible ? can it be true r 
that our young men repaired in solemn procession, to 
the temple of their (Jod, and Avept with those who wept, 
the living, and the dead ? and that any of our young 
women, tripped in frolic mood, to yon Olympian dome, 
and smiled at pantomimic folly, laughing in the sober 
face of death himself? Has man ordained four month's 
abstinence from every species of gaiety and mirth? are 
** the daughters of music brought low ?" Must the song 
of festivity be heard no more? Is the light footed child 
for^ndden to dance ? And can there be a female in ex- 
istence, who did not consecrate one mournful night, to 
weep for kindred female forms, enwrapt in living fires, 
and shrieking, crisping, slu'ivelling, dying in suiround- 
ing flames? Boast not, my thoughtless friends, of past 
security. The peaceful calm, is but the herald of the 
coming storm. Those spacious stairs, and wide unfold- 
ing doors, wliich promise to redeem from death, may 
fail of power, to snatch you from an instant grave. Can 
these repel the thunderbolts of heaven ? or those dis- 
arm the liglttuing of its fatal powers ? Ah! see, that gay 
assemblage, beauty, elegance, and taste, who crowd the 
theatre at Yeniee ! The whirlwind sweeps ; the tem- 
pest roars ; the storm descends ; the thunders roll ; the 
lightnings blast; the dead, the dying lay in heaps around 
the floor ; the groanings of the wounded fair, are hor- 
rible indeed ! Electric fluid scars the loveliest face, 
where smiles and dimples played. The scorching fire 
has withered beauty's fiiding rose. This was a fire en- 
kindled by the breath of God : the lightnings heard his 
voice, and sped at his command. O ! think upon the 
terrors of this awful night ; and tremble at tlie words 
of everlasting truth, thus ye may perish as by « fire 
from heaven:" and this, my friends, may be your instan- 
taneous fate ! Tlien, be ye warned by these instructive 
scenes. Obey the voice of Jesus Christ, whicli sounds. 



30 

'« repent, repent," and " sin no more.'* The theatre, at 
best, Jeiuls down to moral dcatli : at worst, her living 
guests, are in "thechamhers of the dead,-" they live 
to folly ; and they die to God : while time niispent, and 
talents misiniproved, and fortune lavished in support of 
vice, arc sins, which follow to a dread account; and 
sink the conscious spirit, in the depths of mental woe. 
ITap])y arc they, who never tread this fatal round, 
VAhere morals, manners, sentiment, and taste, are all 
ingulphed within the vortex of surrounding vice. More 
liappy those, whom poverty precludes from listening to 
the syren song of fashion, vanity, or pride, which 
lure the footsteps of tlie fair, from paths of piety and 
peace. And happiest of the happy are the few, who 
give their morning hours to God; who loan the noon 
of life, to wipe away the tear from sorrow's cheek; to 
hush the little orphan's sigh ; and ** cause the widow's 
heart, to sing aloud for joy :" And whose approaching 
iiight of death, reflects the splendors of celestial day; 
and floods the raptured soul with visions of eternal hliss! 
And now **for my brethren and my companions' 
sakes ;" for the temporal happiness of the United States, 
and the never ending felicity of all its inhabitants, my 
prayers unto the God of my salvation, most fervently 
sliall he, that eyerj individual may listen with serious, 
and with solemn attention, to <he awakening language of 
the Lord Josus Christ himself, as contained in the mo- 
mentous words of this impressive text ; "suppose ye, 
that these Galileans, were sinners above all the Galile- 
ans, because they suftcred such things ? I tell you nay : 
but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish :*' or 
*< think ye, that tliose eighteen upon whom the tower of 
Siloain fell, and slew them, were sinners above all men 
that dwelt in Jerusalem, I tell you nay: But except ye 
repent, ye sSijdl all likewise perish.'* And may not these 
words, which are twice repeated, to render them more 



31 

fleeply impressive, be translated in spirit and in trulli, 
and that Avitlioiit any " perversion of the words of the 
living God," " the Lord of hosts," as if they had been 
ihus uritten, ou the tablet of divine revekition f and 
ihese Avere their glowing characters, as impressed in 
« the volume of this book," " suppose ye, that the in- 
habitants of Riclimond, vvei'e sinners above all the inha- 
bitants of the United States, because they siiflered such 
things ? I tell you nay: But except ye repent, ye shall 
all likewise perish," or " think ye, that those three score 
and ten on whom the burning torrent fell, and consum- 
ed them as ia a moment, were sinners above all the in- 
habitants of every other capital ? I tell you nay : But 
except ye repent, yo shall all likewise perish." Yes.' 
verily, in this mode the twice repeated truths of re- 
ally one text, may be translated ; and thus the words 
of the redeemer may be engraven, as w ith " a pen of 
iron," or " the point of a diamond on the rock" of the 
human heart. Instead, therefore, of presuming, to say, 
that the inhabitants of Richmond, were the greatest of 
all possible sinners," because they suffered such things," 
as rent a father's bursting heart, as pierced a mother's 
anguished breast : as whelmed a brother in the dust of 
death; and sunk a sister in the depths of deep despair t 
may each individual remember for himself, this most 
important, interesting truth, «• repent, repent, o* jierish 
thou, and die." These, my brethren, and my frieiwls, 
are the solemn words of Jesus Christ, our Loi-d. Eter- 
nal truth, " who cannot lie," has twice repeated these 
awakening, and alarming sounds, « except ye repent, 
ye shall all likewise perish." They are sealed as the 
yea and amen" of an immutable God, with whom, is 
*« neither variableness" of change, nor " shadow of turn- 
ing ;" and whose prophetic declaration is " Oiat at m hat 
instant, I shall speak, concerning a nation, or concerning 
a kingdem, topluck iip,and to pull down, and to destroy ; 



oJ 

if tliat nation against wliom, I have pronounced tlieso 
things, turn froui their evil, then Avili I repent oi" the 
evil, that I thought to do unto them : and at what in- 
stant, 1 shall speak, concerning a nation, or concerning 
a kingdom, to build and to plant it : if it do evil in my 
sight j and obey not my voice, then will 1 repent of the 
good, wherewith, I said, I would benefit them." And 
may not this, be the language of the Almiglity unto us ? 
as it was the message of Jehovah to his ancient Israel, 
by the ministry of his servant Moses ; "I will heap mis- 
chiefs upon them ; I will spend mine arrows within 
theaij they shall be burnt with hunger; devoured 
with burning heat ; and consumed by bitter destruction ; 
I will also send the teeth of wild beasts; with poison of 
the serpents of the dust; and the sword without, and the 
terror within, shall destroy both the young man and 
the maiden ; the suckling also, and the man of gray 
hairs; yea, I will scatter them into corners; and make 
their remembrance to cease from among men." War, 
earthquake, and pestilence, my brethren and my friends, 
are the triune ministers of the wrath of God, as " re- 
vealed from heaven, against all ungodliness, and unrigh- 
teousness of men." Two of these avengers of violated 
covenants, have already " marched through the land in 
indignation." The pestilence moved onwards before 
God ; ttnd ten thousand, seven hundred and eighty one, 
were numbered for death, in Philadelphia, alone. War 
hath been, now is, and yet may be: the inscriptions on 
his banners, are, thou wast ; thou art ; and thou art 
yet to come. Time past, is in front ; time present, forms 
the centre; and time still future crowds upon the rear. 
Last, in these armies of the Lord of hosts, and not the 
least amid destroying powers, tremendous earthquake 
sounds his awful trumpet, loud, and long: and all its 
dreadful tones pronounce, proclaim, " O earth, earth, 
earth, hear the wojd of the Lord." << Repent, repent. 



33 

repent, or perish ye, aud die." One trumpet yet re- 
mains to sound; it is *<the trump of the archangel;" 
and the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ ; and this the 
note that wakes the dead, « prepare, prepare, prepare, 
to meet thy God." " Wliat meanest thou, then, O 
sleeper! asleep in the midst of whirlwinds, and tem- 
pests, and storms : asleep on the raging billow, whose 
instant roll may whelm us all beneath the deep. Awake ? 
arise ! call upon thy God, if so be, that we perish not." 
Or to eonclude> in the emphatioal language of an in- 
spired apostle, " awake thou that sleepest ! arise as from 
tlie dead ! and may " Christ give thee light ;" the light 
6f everlasting, and eternal life, amen ; so be it Loi'd : 
•amenn 



FINIS, 



ERRATA. 
Page 13, 1st line, for convicted ^ read converted 



B 



HISTORICAL NOTES, 



FROM 



MNEMONIKA. 



QJ^ The author is indehted for the fol4«^ving me- 
moranda, to a very elaborate series of chronological 
tablets, published under the title of Mnemonika, in a 
neat 12mo vol. by Edward J. Coalc, of Baltimore, 1812. 
It is a work of immense research, and astonishing mi- 
nuteness, comprehending more universal information, 
than any other book of 3*8 pages. Nonpareil type. 



NOTICES OF DEATH. 

A late publication makes the number of inhabitants 
©n the globe, to be, 896 millions. Of these, 226 milli- 
ons are denominated. Christians : 10 millions, Jews : 
210 millions, Mahometans : 450 millions. Pagans. Of 
those professing the Christian religion, there are 50 
millions of Protestants : 30 millions of the Greek and 
Armenian Churches ; and 90 millions of Catholics. 
The aggregate population on the surface of the known 
habitable globe, is estimated at 896 millions of souls. 
If we reckon with the ancients, that a generation lasts 
30 years, in that space, 896 millions of the human race 
will be born and die ; consequently, 81,760 are drop- 
ping into eternity every day j 3i97 every hour j and 
about 36 every minute. 



TABLE, No. I 

Memoranda of Destructive Fires, in the Elder World ! 



1729 


Constantinople, 


Turkev, 


12,000-> 




1749 


do. 


do. '• 


12,000 




1750 


do. 


do. 


14,000 




1756 


do. 


do. 


15,500 




1782 


do. 


do. 


17,800 




1784 


do. 


do. 


12,000 




1791 


do. 


do. 


32,000 




1792 


do. 


do. 


7,000 


f 


1795 


do. 


do. 


7,000 


1799 


do. 


do. 


1,300 


o 


176n 


do. 


do.-^ 




22 


1765 


do. 


do. 




o 


1767 > 


do. 


do. > say 


20,000 


CO 


1769 


do. 


do. 




1771 J 


do. 


do J 






1752 


Moscow, 


Russia, 


18,000 


to 


1756 


Berghen, 


Norway, 


1,000 


O 


1790 


Carlscrone, 


Russia, 


1,087 




1793 


Archangel, 


Russia, 


3,000 




1795 


Copenhagen, 


Denmark, 


1,363 




1796 


Smyrna, 


Turkev, 


4,000 




1797 


Scutari, 


do. " 


3,000 




1780 


Petersburgh, 


Russia, 


11,000 




1780 


Gera, 


Totally destroyed. 






1788 


Gabel, Bohemia, 


do. 






1803 


Madras, 




1,000^ 





0:j= To these, may be added, many lesser fires, in various parts of 
the world, including- towns, viflages, and hamlets, composed of 600 
dwellings ; aiid from thence down to 50 habitations of the poor, who 
have repeatedly lost their little all. 



TABLE, No. n. 

Notices of Fires in Araeri^ga. 



1747^ 
1760 








1761 y 


Boston, 


Massachusetts, 


Damage, 100,000 1. 


1763 








1775 J 








1787 


do. 




100 Houses. 


1794 






Damage, 200,000 1. 


1802 


Portsmouth, 


New Hampshire, 


150 Houses. 


1811 


Newburvport, 


Massachusetts, 


300 Buildings. 


1778 


New York City, 


New York, 


300 Houses. 


1796 


do. 


do. 


70 do. 


1811 


do. 


do. 


100 do. 


1786 


Richmond, 


Virginia, 


100 do. 


1791 


Newbern, 


North Carolina, 


160 do. 


1778 


Charleston, 


South Carolina, 


250 do. 


1796 


do. 


do. 


300 do. 



TABLE, No. m. 

Burnlng^ of Theatres, Operas, Play Houses, Sic. &.c. 



a 



26 
1671 
1769 
1791 
1793 
1778 
1772 
1794 
1794 
1794 
1796 
1787 
1803 
1805 
1807 
18G8 
1809 
1786 
1770 
1781 
180 
1808 
1811 



►Vmphitheatre, 

Theatre, 

Theatre, 

Play House, 

Pantheon, 

Theatre, 

Opera House, 

Astly's Theatre, 

Hay Market, 

Theati'e, 

Theatre, 

Play House, 

Astly's, 

Rov.'l Circus, 

Sadler's AVells, 

Theatre, 

Theatre, 

Play House, 

Fu-e Works, 

Opera, 

Theatre, 

Theatre, 

Theatre, 



Fidonia, 

Drury Lane, 

Venice, 

Clermont, 

London, 

Saragossa, 

Amsterdam, 

uondon, 

London Theatre, 

Cape di Istria, 

Mentz, 

Bury, 

London Theatre, 

London, 

London, 

Covent Garden, 

Driuy Lane, 

Montpelier, 

Paris, 

Pai'is, 

Altona, 

Berlin, 

Richmond, 



Fell in, 50,000 lives lost. 

Bm*nt, and 60 houses. 

Fired by lightning, many killed- 

Fell down, 30 killed. 

Burnt, and 57 wounded. 

Burnt, and 400 persons. 

Burnt, and 150 persons. 

Burnt, and 19 houses. 

Trodden to death, 15 persons. 

Fell down, all crushed to death': 

Burnt, and 70 persons. 

Fell down, and 5 killed. 

Burnt, and 40 houses. 

Burnt. 

Trodden to death, 18 persons. 

Burnt. 

Burnt. 

Fell, and 500 killed. 

1000 lives lost. 

Fire, multitudes perished. 

Fire, many lives lost. 

Fire, several lives lost. 

Fire, 70 perished. 



(Ijr To this list may be added, the theatre at Boston : Ricketts' 
circus, Philadelphia : and many of lesser note, in different parts of 
the world, making ao aggi-egate of 100,000, killed, wounded, mangle^, 
burnt, &c. 



TABLE, No. IV. 

THE Theatre at Richmond, Virginia, was consumed by fire, Decembev 
26th, 1811 ; and the following Individuals perished in devouring 
flames ! ! ! 



MEN. 

His Excel. Wm. Smith 

Abraham Venable, esq 

Benjamin Botts, esq. 

Lieut. Gibbon, U. S. N. 

AViiliam Brown, 

George Dixon. 

A. Marshall. 

T. Lecroix. 

Josepli Jacobs. 

E. Wanton, jun. 

VV. Southgate. 

Mr. Convart. 

His Child, do. 

Mr. Nutal. 

Mr. Judah's Child. 

John Welch. 

T. Fi-azier. 

J. Walden. 

A. B. Hezi. 

E. J. Harvie. 

R. Ferrill. 

WOMEN. 
Mrs. Cook. 
Mrs. Lesley. 
Mrs. Botts; 



Mrs. Braxton. 
Mrs. Patterson. 
Mrs. Gallego. 
Mrs. Page. 
Miss Conyers. 
Miss Mayo. 
Miss Coutts. 
Miss Nelson. 
Miss Page. 
Miss Hervcy. 
Miss Whitlock. 
Miss Craig. 
Miss Stevenson. 
Mrs. Gibson. 
Miss Hunter. 
Mrs. Davis. 
Miss Gerard. 
Miss Wade. 
Mrs. Pickett. 
Mrs. Heron. 
Mrs. Laforest. 
Miss Jacobs. 
Miss Bausman. 
Miss Marks. 
Mr. Bott's Niece. 
Miss Trouin. 



Her Sister, do. 

Mrs. Gerer. 

Miss Ellicott. 

Miss Griffin. 

Mrs. Moss. 

Her Daughter, do. 

Miss Littlepage. 

Miss Cook. 

Mrs. Girardin. 

Her two Children, do. 

Miss Copeland. 

Miss Gwathmey. 

Miss Clay. 

Mrs. Wilson. 

Mrs. Greenhow. 

3Iiss Green. 

Miss Raphael. 

Miss Elliott. 

Mrs. Borhio. 

Her Niece do. 

Miss Gatewood. 

Mrs. Laforest's Niece. 

COLOURED PEOPLE. 

Fanny Goff. 

Betsy Johnson. 

Philadelphia. 



TABLE, No. V. 

Memoranda of memorable Earthquakes \ 



iriAsia, 

79lHeiculaneum, 
lOrJAsla and Greece, 
115 Antioch, 
120 Nicomedia, 



357 Macedonia, 

Sr^Xice, 

48U Constant inople, 

548jAntioch, 

742|Ncai-ly universal 

8671 Mecca, many lives and 

986|ConstanLinopIc, 
1112'Lieg'e and Gottenburgh, 
1186:Calabna, 
1222|Brisa, Lombardy, 
1456 Naples, 
1693 Messnia, 
1730Chili, 
1754iGrand Cairo, 
1755'Lisbon, Portugal, 
1756: l^dermo, Italy, 
1759 Damas, Barbury, 
17841 Arch;ndschan, 
IBUjiGerg-hon, Persia, 



12 



Cities overturned. 
City of buried, 250,000. 
Cities destroyed. 
City of destroyed, 
and several other cities swallowed up. 



150 Cities destroyed 
City of destroyed. 
40 days earthquake. 

4,8u0 persons swallov ed up^ 

600 Cuies, destroyed. 
1,500 houses thrown down, 
overtlu'own. 
do. 
and all its inhabitants lost in ihe sea. 

2000 persons perished. 
40,000 persons perished. 
78,000 persons perished, 
the whole kingdom swallowed up. 
40,000 persons perished, 
totally destroyed. 

do 

60,000 persons perished. 
14,000 lives lost. 

40,000 swallowed up. 



TABLE, No. VL 

INIemoranda of the pestilence, plague, &c. 



78 


Rome, 


per day. 


772 


Chichester, 


England, 


954 


Scotland, 


Great Britain, 


1347 


London, 


England, 


1348 


(iermany, 




1611 


Constantinople, 


TurkeV, 


lb32 


Lvons, 


France, 


1665 


London, 


England, 


177,. 


Bassorah, 


Persia, 


1792 


••'^.VP^. 




179A 


Baibary, 


per day. 


1799 


i'ez. 


per month 


1800 


Morocco, 


per day. 


1784 


Tunis, 




1784 


Smyrna, 





10,000 
34,000 
40,000 
50,000 
90,000 

200,000 
60,000 
68,000 
80,000 

800,000 
3000 

247,000 

1,800 

32,000 

20,000 



234 
S49 
549 
701 
944 
1055 



TABLE, No. VII. 
RcmaiJcable Storms, Tempests, Inundations, &c. 



Canterbury, Wind, 
Carlile, Storm of Wind, - 
London, many liouses, and 
Lincoln, - - - - 
London, mjiny killed, and 
London, many lives, and - 



200 houses blown down. 

- 420 do. 
250 persons killed. 

- 100 houses blown down. 
1500 do. 

400 do. 



918 
1752 
1791 

1762 
1719 
1222 



Scotland, 

Wales, 

Cuba, 



Rains, uncommon. Snows, &c. 



Snow in Eng'land, for 
Snow, so lerrible, that 



14,700 Cattle, and 



Thunder for 15 days, many lives lost. 



5 months rain. 

10,000 Sheep deslroye<i. 

3,000 jiersons destroyed. 

11 days, steiuly. 

7000 Swedes perislied. 



Hail, tremendous. 



1205 


London, 


1510 


Italy, 


1558 


Southamptonshire, 


1651 


Dorchester, 


1697 


Chesiiire, 


1772 


St. Jag-o, - 


1776 


Antwerp, 


1782 


Madrid, - 


1782 


Surat, - 


1784 


Pyrenees, 



Hail 
Hail 
Hail 
Hail 
Hull 
Huil 
Hail 
Hail 
Hull 
Hail 



as large as hens' egg's, 
destroyed e\er\' thin^. 

15 inclies round. 

7 inches 

8 ounces weig-ht. 

as large as oranges. 
12 ounces weig-ht. 

16 ounces weig-lit. 
killed 7000 people. 
23 oimces wci<iht. 



Inundations, awful. 



1421 I Dort, Sea broke in, and 

1737 1 At Ganges, 20,000 vessels, and 



100,000 drowned. 
300,000 lives lost 



Volcanic eruption. 

7'9 I Vesuvius, 2 Cities, and - - 250,000 periahed 
There have been lyiwards of 40 eruptions since 79. 



TABLE, No. Vni. 
Census of Slaves, 1800 and 1810 ! 



^ 
"m 

^ 





1800. 


1810. 


Decreased. 


Increased. 


New Hampshire, 


8 





8 




Massachusetts; 












Connecticut, 


951 


310 


641 




Vermont, 












Rhode Island, 


308 


108 


200 




New York, 


20,613 


15,017 


5,146 




New Jersey, 


12,422 


10,851 


1,571 




Pennsylvania, 


1,706 


795 


911 




Delaware, 


6.153 


4,177 


1,976 




Maryland, 


107,707 


111,502 




3,795 


Virginia, 


346,968 


392,518 




45,550 


North Carolina, 


133,296 


168,824 




35,528 


South Carolina, 


146,051 


196,345 




50,294 


Georgia, 


59,699 


105,218 




45,519 


Kentucky, 


40,343 


80,501 


nearly doubled. 


40,221 


Ohio, 








(bled. 




Tennessee, 


13,584 


44,535 


more than tre- 


30,951 


Mississippi Territory, 


3,489 


17,088 


ditto. 


14,599 


Indiana Tei-ritory. 
Orleans Territory. 


135 


237 
34,660 




202 








Louisiana Territory. 




3,011 


10,453 


266,659 


Michigan Territory, 




24 






Illinois Territory, 




128 


Decrease in 


Increase in 


District of Columbia, 




5,395 


lO Years 


10 Years 



1,191,304 Total No, of Slaves. 



^•%^, 






